October 27, 2026

GOOD AND HARD, BUT IN BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE: Brazil has voted for economic chaos.

The shift to the right across South America has been stopped. One of President Trump’s key regional allies has been defeated. The global left, and most of the center, has been celebrating the victory of President Lula over Flávio Bolsonaro in a closely fought election this weekend. There is just one problem. As the brutal sell-off of financial assets demonstrated, Brazil has also voted for economic chaos. That rarely ends well.

While the left were toasting victory on Monday morning, investors were furiously dumping Brazilian equities and, more importantly, debt. On Monday the Bovespa – Brazil’s main stock market index – fell by over 15 percent. The Brazilian real lost as much as a tenth of its value, its worst trading day since 1999. Meanwhile, the ten-year local bond yield jumped from 13 percent to more than 15 percent in a single session. Amid the rout, the country canceled two debt auctions. It was ugly, and shows little sign of calming down any time soon.

In reality, the sell-off made perfect sense. Investors had anticipated a Bolsonaro victory, and were expecting lower taxes, controls on spending and pro-business reforms once their man took power. They had positioned their books accordingly, confidently expecting a post-election rally. After all, on the night before the election, the prediction markets, which are increasingly taken as gospel on Wall Street, gave the right an 80 percent chance of victory. As that prospect of that disappeared, they reversed all those trades as quickly as possible.

And speaking of reversing course: Wow! Flavio Bolsonaro Escapes Brazilian Regime with Family, Headed to FL as Trump Offers Protection.

Posted at 6:55 pm by Ed Driscoll

PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS: “California Governor Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of being the ‘leading nationalist and socialist of our time’ in an appearance on the Pivot podcast,” Newsweek reported in August of last year.

But suddenly, Gavin’s pretty amenable to spreading plenty of socialism nationally himself!

Tweet continues:

“The DSA, the energy and the desire and demand for bold change, not incremental change, is very much going to be dominant. I mean, that’s going to be a mainstream Democratic movement. Absolutely. No question about that.”

That’s California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential candidate, speaking to an undercover journalist while campaigning in New Hampshire.

Asked by a “younger voter” who said “we don’t want Kamala Harris, we want more democratic socialist policies”:

“No one is arguing to manage the status quo and fail more efficiently.”

“You can’t play in the margins anymore. The system’s broken. It’s completely unbalanced, and we can’t manage the decline. We have to completely reimagine.”

Didn’t the left already Start From Zero in 2020? How many “reimagines” do they get in a decade?

Posted at 5:45 pm by Ed Driscoll

YOLO: Jay Z picks himself for Super Bowl half-time show.

Jay-Z has picked himself as next year’s Super Bowl half-time act.

The rapper’s company, Roc Nation, has partnered with the NFL since 2019 to advise on and produce the half-time show.

“From Reasonable Doubt to standing on the Super Bowl half-time stage, this has been a journey,” said the 56-year-old rapper in response to the announcement. “Thirty years of music, work, and culture on the world’s biggest stage. This run continues to be a dream come true.”

The show, one of the biggest events in the music calendar, will take place at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, on Feb 14.

Roger Goodell, the NFL commissioner, said he had wanted Jay-Z to perform since they first partnered seven years ago.

“When we first reached an agreement with Roc Nation to produce the show, I had just one request: that Jay-Z take the stage himself one day, whenever the moment felt right to him,” Goodell said. “I couldn’t be more excited for fans around the world to experience the artistry, creativity and cultural impact he will bring to the Super Bowl stage.”

I doubt it’s his kind of music, but the ghost of Dick Cheney smiles at Jay-Z’s chutzpah: As Bush’s VP Vetter In 2000, Cheney ‘Sidestepped The Scrutiny He Imposed On Others.’

Posted at 5:30 pm by Ed Driscoll

RUMORS TO THE CONTRARY, WE HAVE NOT YET REACHED PEAK ABSURDITY:

Posted at 5:22 pm by Stephen Green

“A REPUBLIC, IF YOU CAN KEEP IT,” IS LOSING OUT TO “MUH DEMOCRACY”:

Inevitable? I don’t know. But it’s certainly painful.

Posted at 4:35 pm by Stephen Green

THAT HARDLY SEEMS POSSIBLE: Jackie Singh’s Stolen Valor Controversy Raises Bigger Questions About Media Credibility.

You may have seen the name Jackie Singh popping up on X over the last few days. But if you’re not a member of the military or veteran community, you may not have paid attention to the details and simply scrolled by.

For those not in the know, Singh is known for her extreme left-wing independent journalism. As a brash and outspoken purveyor of progressive ideology, she has a background that many on the left do not — she served in the U.S. Army in an active combat zone. And she uses that detail to bludgeon any and all criticism of the policies she advocates. 

Except it was recently discovered that her own description of her background might not be based in reality.

Read the whole thing.

Posted at 3:49 pm by Stephen Green

AMERICA’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

Posted at 3:33 pm by Stephen Green

HEY, BIG SPENDER: Nvidia to invest $3 billion in Meta as tech giants deepen AI partnership. “Nvidia announced its investment on Tuesday, adding that Meta would expand Vera Rubin and Vera CPU deployment, and that the two companies would deepen their partnership on Muse, the social media giant’s AI agent that launched last month.”

Round and round it goes.

Posted at 2:47 pm by Stephen Green

DEMOCRATS TAKING NOTES:

Posted at 2:42 pm by Stephen Green

ONE PROFESSOR PUNISHED FOR SPEECH? AN ANECDOTE. A HUNDRED? CHERRY-PICKED. A THOUSAND? SELECTION BIAS. SURVEYS? BAD QUESTIONS. BETTER SURVEYS? METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS! Welcome to the “Academic Filibuster,” academia’s remarkable talent for turning every new piece of evidence into yet another demand for proof, while the problems everyone knew about decades ago only become more entrenched. I’m unpacking this phenomenon in my new series on higher education’s resistance to reform, starting with a FREE introduction.

Posted at 2:39 pm by Greg Lukianoff

COLLEGE SPORTS – AT WHAT COST? The Martin Center is out with a report on what sports cost UNC system students, not just in fees, but in other, less fungible, ways.

I loved my time at Duke in part because of the fun of being a “Cameron Crazie.” But there’s a point where the big money and attention of college sports becomes a liability instead of an asset, and if we weren’t already there in the late 90s (and I suspect we were), we’re way past it today.

Posted at 2:38 pm by Robert Shibley

AMERICA’S TEAM’S NEWSPAPER OF RECORD:

Posted at 2:35 pm by Ed Driscoll

WELL, YES:

But wait, there’s more:

Who said trillionaires aren’t any fun?

RELATED (From Ed): Actually, perhaps there’s less:

 

Posted at 2:32 pm by Stephen Green